Transliteracy & Technology

Research to create a Legal Learning

CommonsElizabeth Farrell

Katie MillerFSU College of Law

If you build it. . . If you build it. . .

Asking Lawyers Asking Lawyers 3 surveys

University of Fla. University of Fla. Legal Technology Legal Technology

Institute Institute

CASE, MATTER, & PRACTICE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM STUDY

January 2010

Our informal survey Our informal survey

Legal practice Legal practice technologiestechnologies

Do you think law students need training using law practice technologies?

Which types of legal practice technology should students be exposed to prior to entering practice?

“. . . it is critical to be able to use case management software appropriately to document the

progress of each case.”

“Electronic discovery  is increasingly important and

should be part of the curriculum.”

CASE MANAGEMENT

70.2%

RECORDS/DOC MANAGEMENT

53.2%

LITIGATION SUPPORT

44.7%

TRIAL PRESENTATION

46.8%

BILLING42.6%

CONFLICT CHECKING

34%

METADATA REMOVAL

25.5%

REDLINING21.3%

SMARTPHONE APPS

19.1%

Which technology should an attorney have exposure to before they enter the legal world?

* 10.6% responded that students need NO specialized tech skills before beginning their practice.

CASE MANAGEMENT

70.2%

Which technology should an attorney have exposure to before they enter the legal world?

Is case/practice management software available at your firm?

*Data from ABA study

50.6%

34.6%

14.8%

CASE MANAGEMENT

70.2%

*Data from ABA study

29.7%

36.3%

17.6%

Indicate the software you personally use for law-related tasks: Case/Practice management

RECORDS/DOC MANAGEMENT

53.2%

METADATA REMOVAL

25.5%

REDLINING21.3%

Indicate the software you personally use for law-related tasks

CASE MANAGEMENT

BILLING

Which technologies were most difficult to learn?

“I probably have a tough time with all of them”

None of them

RECORDS/DOC MANAGEMENTTRIAL

PRESENTATION

BILLING

REDLINING

What law practice technologies were easiest to learn?

Legal Research

What law practice technologies were easiest to learn?

Practical use of the dataPractical use of the data

What to buy & what to What to buy & what to teachteach

Software for specialized subject matter

Addressing the critics

“These are training issues that should be the

responsibility of the new lawyer and his/her employer.  They should not be part of the law school curriculum.”

“Most of the admin. work is done by assistants.

 Students ought to focus more on substantive

research.  Not to mention that such

software differs from one practice to another.”

“A lot of this should be part of the paralegal

courses, not substantive legal

courses.”

“The world is so different now from when I went to

law school in the late 70’s that I don’t think it would have done much

good”

“I think it would be difficult to select one or a few programs on which to train law students.  There are so many

programs and it seems every law firm uses a

different suite of programs”

“Frankly, they are not that cumbersome to use or learn.

 Most who are computer literate pick up the concepts

after a few short hours of training.”  

GOAL = TRANSLITERACY 

What is transliteracy?

““Transliteracy is the ability Transliteracy is the ability to read, write and interact to read, write and interact

across a range of platforms, across a range of platforms, tools and media from tools and media from

signing and orality through signing and orality through handwriting, print, TV, radio handwriting, print, TV, radio

and film, to digital social and film, to digital social networks.”networks.”

Why transliteracy & Why transliteracy & libraries?libraries?

What transliteracy looks like What transliteracy looks like

in our the legal worldin our the legal world

“Exposure to what is in the marketplace might be

helpful.  I am not sure the value of

learning one particular application.”

“Students should learn about metadata issues and

e-discovery but may not need to know a specific

software.”

“Its not just the technology.  If students are exposed to casemap and timemap they

begin to learn how to efficiently organize and

analyze facts before being handed a casefile for the

first time.”

Laws schools & law Laws schools & law practice technologiespractice technologies

Status QuoStatus Quo

How many current graduates know anything about law practice technologies?

0-25%

26-50%

51-75%

76-100%

65.5%

20.7%6.9%

6.9%

LAW SCHOOL CLINICS54.8%

LAW PRACTICETECH COURSE

23.8%

WORKSHOPS or

TRAINING14.3%

ALR

* 26.2% responded that his/her school does not offer any opportunities to learn law practice technologies

Where is the learning happening?

EXTERNSHIPS

TRIAL PRACTICEMANAGEMENT

COURSE

LIBRARY BLOG

“SKILL LABCOURSES”

LIBRARIANS in

DOCTRINAL COURSES

What are they learning?

Who is teaching law practice tech?

Looking forwardLooking forward

Is your school planning on/considering expanding opportunities for students to

learn about law practice tech?

Teaching the teachers – Teaching the teachers – opportunities for opportunities for

learning about law learning about law practice technologies practice technologies

Conferences and Conferences and Professional AssociationsProfessional Associations

People resources People resources

Implementation ideasImplementation ideas

ClinicsClinics

Law Practice Law Practice Management Management

Courses Courses

Learning Lab Learning Lab oror

Learning CommonsLearning CommonsModelModel

Study Space

Multi-purpose

Collaboration, Independent & Guided Learning

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